Self Employment

[Jamisjockey]

Well, I did the math today.  I've got 61 days left in federal employment.  Right now I'm pretty much just working through the move only to get
A) excused abscence for move time, and B) health insurance until we get moved.
From that point forward I work with my wife building our business. 
Any advice from the self-employed?

[Monkeyleg]

Take the following into account, as I've been very successful at self-employment, as well as very bad.

When you start out, live on as little as you can.

When things are going well, still live on as little as you can, and sock the rest of the cash away.

Buy as much equipment as you need, but no more. Also look at used equipment. Depending upon the industry, almost-new equipment can be close in price to new equipment.

Your boss (you) should be a slave-driver. If not, replace him. Believe me, it's easy to say, "oh, I don't really need to work too hard today." Next thing you know, you won't have any work at all.

If your banker hems and haws about issuing you credit...think twice. He's in the business of studying risks.  He just may be right.

Make sure that the type of business you're going into is one that you enjoy. Most people complain about or even hate their jobs. You don't want to be doing something you hate seven days a week.

Reward yourself every so often with a toy or a vacation or something else you can afford.

Learn to "network." I know that's a well-worn term, but my competitors who are more successful than I am are better at it than I am. In my case, I hired a sales rep who enjoyed networking.

Recognize that the odds are against you. Most start-up businesses fail. Have a backup plan.

Best wishes to you.

[Art Eatman]

I wuz self-employed, once, but I couldn't get along with the boss.

Sorry 'bout dat.

I dropped out of organized stuff way, way back and went to entrepreneuring on a penny-ante basis.  I like to wander around and visit and shmooze with folks, so doing a buy/sell/trade thing was a piece of cake for me.  Gun shows, coin shows.  Buy collections wholesale, selll retail.

I'm project oriented:  I like to work like crazy until a project is done and sold and then kick back and do nothing.  That style is not for everybody.

After I moved here to the desert, I bought a used backhoe and dumptruck and became the local sand-and-gravel fella.  There's always a demand, and it's easy to get out and "sell work" to find more customers.  Back to the shmooze thing, I guess.

I don't think I could deal with an in-store day job setup.

Art

[Declaration Day]

Jamis, what type of business is this?

I am self employed.  I purchased 50% of a well-established lawn care business that I had been working for since high school graduation.

Let me say first that it requires a lot of motivation to get up at 5 AM each day and get things rolling.  I AM my business, and I am responsible for EVERYTHING.  I am a mechanic, a laborer, an accountant, a janitor, and a customer service representative, all at once.

Is it worth it?  Yes!   Here's what I enjoy about it.

-My business allows concealed carry, because I say so!
-I am my own boss.  Yes, the customer is my boss to a certain extent, but not in the same way.
-I decide when to go to lunch and how much time I have.
-I can manipulate my schedule to accomodate errands or family business without having to ask for time off.  Same goes for vacation.
-I am mostly in control of who I interact with.
-I don't have to deal with any backwards corporate policies, or read through and sign 1,000 page forms written in legalese.

Now the down side:

-There are a lot of jerks out there; people who think that being a customer excuses them from their manners.  Though it has an effect on my income, I tend to either refuse to do work for rude people, or I quote them a high price that they won't agree to.

-Unless you run a cash on-the-spot business, you'll be amazed at how many people don't pay their bills on time.  About 30% of my customers  pay by the due date, another 60% within two weeks of that, and about 10% I regularly have to send second notices, or a late balance on their next bill.  In a given season, I do an average of $200 worth of work that I don't ever get paid for.  I then have to decide if it's worth small claims court or not.

Best of luck!

[Jamisjockey]

Thanks for the insights!  I've always been a government drone and never thought this was possible for me until the last few months really.

Jamis what type of business is this?

Its a direct sales based home business, my wife is a manager in the company now.  We're managing over 350 women (and a few men even).  http://www.liasophia.com/kristy

[Jamisjockey]

I forgot....
we've retained a financial planning group.  They are pretty much full service, goal orientated.  They're digging through our information and are highly flexible.  Lots of stuff we've either not thought of or just given lip service to (such as estate planning) they'll have us setting up.  Business taxes, incorporation, etc etc.  Probably the smartest thing we've done so far.

[lumpy]

there's been some really good advice here. The only things I might add are:

1.) if you always treat your people well you'll get considerably more out of them than what you're paying them.
2.) the customer is not always right... some customers are not worth the income. Ethics always win.
3.) When I used to rave to my accountant about how much I liked my partners he always used to tell me that "money changes everything"... turns out he was right.

I've been self employed since 1977 and have started and sold 2 businesses. I am on my 3rd business (all the same field) which is quite successful.